Palestinians discuss Israeli war threats

Hamas and a number of other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have met to discuss recent Israeli threats to wage a new war on the coastal enclave.

The meeting held on Wednesday was attended by members of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and came a few days after Hamas said it would ensure Palestinian factions observe a truce.

The factions’ leaders have agreed that “security and safety of the Palestinian people are essential,” dpa quoted Hamas spokesman, Ayman Taha, as saying after the meeting in Gaza.

The Wednesday meeting came shortly after Arab leaders warned Hamas that Israel may wage another war, similar to the devastating 2009 onslaught, in response to the home-made rockets fired into Israel from Gaza.

The participants in the Wednesday talks called on rival Hamas and Fatah movements to overcome their disputes and hold a comprehensive dialogue “to end their rift and agree on reconciliation,” Taha said.

Khalil al-Haya, a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad, highlighted that Palestinian factions “will do their best” to foil “any attempt of the enemy to use excuses here or there to carry out an aggression on their people.”

He said that the factions “expressed readiness to be committed to calm as long as the occupation is committed to it.”

Over the past months, Israel has intensified its attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing a number of Palestinians and leaving many more injured.

Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip at the turn of 2009, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians in three weeks of unrelenting land, sea and airstrikes on the populated coastal sliver.